Author Topic: Internet browsing issues - "Connection is not private" error  (Read 2584 times)

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Offline stickynote2

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Internet browsing issues - "Connection is not private" error
« on: December 04, 2019, 01:29:15 AM »
I have been experiencing issues on my laptop with internet browsing on my default internet browser, Chrome, and also on my android phone's Chrome, as well as the crappy Samsung Internet browser, for about a month now. It started sometime in early November when I was away from home, on a vacation overseas. I was messaging a family member who was staying at home, and they complained about internet access issues getting the error on Chrome: "Your connection is not private".

Me trying to help the situation while on vacation, went through various online websites to see if I could help remotely. The date and time are current and set to automatic. So I am pretty sure it is not a date/time issue; we checked it multiple times. The family member told me that the issue was "fixed" when they reset the modem in the house. But shortly later on, I was told the issue had returned.

While I was on vacation overseas I did not experience any issues on my phone or on my laptop. However when I returned home from vacation and connected to the home wifi network, I started receiving the above error on Chrome on my laptop on certain websites and also on my Samsung smartphone. Basically any of the devices connected to the home wifi was experiencing the same issues. However, when we connected the smartphones on LTE data, no issues with internet browsing errors.

At first it was only a few websites that I couldn't access on my phone on the home wifi network. I would try to go to bestbuy.ca, amazon.ca, and my phone would get the "Your connection is not private" on my chrome browser. I thought this was weird because my laptop did not have this error on these websites, but my phone was. But on my laptop, the issue has been getting worse. It got increasingly annoying surfing on the net with my laptop when I couldn't google search on the address bar and got the same error when using google.ca/.com, or if i tried accessing my gmail account I would get blocked by the same error.

Here is an example of the error that I received on chrome on my laptop (and they are all pretty much the same type of error on my phone).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Your connection is not private
Attackers might be trying to steal your information from www.google.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). Learn more
NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID
Subject: localhost

Issuer: localhost

Expires on: Nov 13, 2027

Current date: Dec 3, 2019

PEM encoded chain:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIZwTCCGKmgAwIBAgIJAKHAA3tYU3Z1MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMDIxDjAMBgNV
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dsgr7Us4rgPVhzhkeaBnuRwAt9vB
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

www.google.com normally uses encryption to protect your information. When Google Chrome tried to connect to www.google.com this time, the website sent back unusual and incorrect credentials. This may happen when an attacker is trying to pretend to be www.google.com, or a Wi-Fi sign-in screen has interrupted the connection. Your information is still secure because Google Chrome stopped the connection before any data was exchanged.

You cannot visit www.google.com right now because the website uses HSTS. Network errors and attacks are usually temporary, so this page will probably work later.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a chat with my internet provider to see if they could diagnose/help me with this internet browsing issue. However, they were also baffled. They mentioned that the issue should be SSL related and not related to the internet connection. They asked me to do this when I was having issues with access to google:

-RUN command, enter:
tracert google.ca

Tracing route to google.ca [2607:f8b0:400b:800::2003]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  5     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 10     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 11     *     Destination host unreachable.

Trace complete.

-------------------------------------------

I can temporarily fix the issue by restarting my laptop or by powering down my modem and would regain access to these websites that I couldn't before. However, I cannot do the same on my phone; restarting the phone does not temporarily give me access to websites blocked by this error. I then noticed when I used apps like the weather app that used Samsung Internet browser, I would get the following error when trying to access a website:
"www.accuweather.com says:
Please update your google chrome for the best experience possible"
I clicked on the OK button, and then another popup showed
"Download file?
Chrome6.1.2.apk
This type of file may harm your phone. Only download this file if you trust its source"
I clicked on the cancel button... but I retried opening another website on the same browser on and got the same error, but a different file, the next time it would say Chrome9.6.8.apk
I clicked cancel anyway... but this looks very suspicious. (not sure if this helps give more clues to what I'm experiencing).

This is what I have done so far on my laptop...I have cleared my chrome browser, reset the browser/reinstalled a freshly downloaded version multiple times and issue returns. I have tried browsing in incognito mode, and I still get the same error and cannot access websites. I have used CCleaner to clear the computer. I have scanned with Malwarebytes 4.0.4, it found some PUPS, it got rid of them, but the issue does not seem to be related as I still receive the same internet browsing errors. Then today I randomly browse on some websites I have access to that I generally visit everyday, and Avast starts popping up randomly

"Threat secured. We've safely aborted connection on wpad because it was infected with Other:Malware-gen [Trj]."
Threat name: Other:Malware-gen [Trj]
URL: http://wpad/wpad.dat
Process: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
Detected by: WebShield
Status: Connection aborted

This error now pops up quite frequently and is really disruptive. Malwarebytes doesn't detect anything wrong. Also not sure if this is related to my internet browsing errors...

Could someone please help me? I haven't experience something this bad since ever...
« Last Edit: December 04, 2019, 01:44:00 AM by stickynote2 »

Offline Asyn

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Re: Internet browsing issues - "Connection is not private" error
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2019, 01:07:59 PM »
Attach your basic diagnostic logs. (MBAM and FRST)
Instructions: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=194892
W8.1 [x64] - Avast Free AV 23.3.8047.BC [UI.757] - Firefox ESR 102.9 [NS/uBO/PB] - Thunderbird 102.9.1
Avast-Tools: Secure Browser 109.0 - Cleanup 23.1 - SecureLine 5.18 - DriverUpdater 23.1 - CCleaner 6.01
Avast Wissenswertes (Downloads, Anleitungen & Infos): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=60523.0

Offline stickynote2

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Re: Internet browsing issues - "Connection is not private" error
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2019, 04:02:13 AM »
Hey, my internet browsing issue has been resolved! For anyone experiencing the same issue here is what was found:

My modem/router was apparently hijacked (possibly by some malware on one of the devices on the home wifi network), as the DNS address was changed. My internet service provider was the one who identified the issue after doing a remote connection session where I replicated the internet browsing issue and they reviewed my modem/router settings. I had no idea modems/routers could be hijacked remotely. There was a setting on my modem/router that allowed WAN enabled access, which allowed anyone to access my modem/router settings and to change the dns. My router is a smartrg. My ISP updated the firmware which is supposed to help prevent this from happening again. I am so relieved that this has been resolved...